OPINION

Santorum's record of politics trumping principle

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Former Sen. Rick Santorum is running for the Republican presidential nominee as the principled, unbending conservative stalwart -- which means he's also running from his past.

Santorum's beliefs are conservative, and he's been a hero for pro-lifers nationwide. But last decade he exhibited the standard Bush-era misguided pragmatism of shunting aside principle in calculated gambits aimed at political gain. Unsurprisingly, these ploys often backfired.